Grandma, baby shaken after car drives into post office

MIAMI — A grandmother and her 9-month-old granddaughter were struck by a car that careened into the Shenandoah post office just before 9 a.m. Monday, a Miami Fire-Rescue spokesman said.

The elderly driver, who was not identified, was leaving the post office, at 1800 SW 22nd St., when she lost control of her champagne-colored Camry. The speeding Camry looped through the parking lot and into the front doors of the post office, taking out a newsstand.

The car struck the 75-year-old grandmother and the infant, knocking them onto the hood.

The infant flew out of her stroller when the car, which smashed into a wall, came to a stop. The baby's grandfather, who narrowly escaped the collision, was cut by glass and metal when he tried to jump over the car to get to his wife and granddaughter.

No one was seriously hurt.

"I think what basically saved them is the car lifted them up. If it would have pushed them in, they would have been trapped," said Miami Fire-Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll Jr.

Customers were temporarily trapped inside the post office.

When paramedics arrived, the grandmother was holding the crying infant, Carroll said.

The driver was "very hysterical, but not injured," he said.

"We brought the grandfather and the baby over to her, so she could see the baby was OK. I think that helped her out a lot."

Baby and grandma were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with cuts and bruises. The driver was checked out at the scene.